Welcome to the May issue
of “Making the Healthy Choice the Easy Choice.” Here you
will find information you can use on a timely topic,
healthy eating, recipes and more! I welcome your
feedback and questions. Please send them to
Janet@nourishyourlife.com Thank you!
May is the
month to check out your local farmers market!
I LOVE the
Farmers Market…I love to walk through, chat with the
farmers, ask questions about their produce; look into
their eyes (the window to our souls) and see the
excitement as they describe their planting and
harvesting practices, their pride in what they have to
offer and (best of all) accept the samples! The USDA
reports that the number of Farmers Markets have more
than doubled in the past ten years.
My favorite is
the organic produce. “Organic fruits and vegetables that
are grown at a farm near you can actually contain up to
59% higher level of antioxidants – plant chemicals that
help fight disease – than their conventionally grown
counterparts…” AND “when you eat locally and organically
grown food, you’re putting the highest-quality fuel into
your body”, says Cynthia Sass, R.D. (Runners World, June
06). In the August 2005 issue of “Making the Healthy
Choice the Easy Choice” the benefits of eating
organically are listed. Check
them out here!
What fruits and
vegetables are appearing at your Farmers Market? It will
be different in different parts of the country and the
world.
Here in
Michigan, we are seeing asparagus, spring peas, rhubarb,
garlic and new potatoes, to name a few. If you cannot
find a Farmers Market near you, just go to
www.foodroutes.org. It is a great website!
Where is YOUR favorite Farmers Market? Who is your
favorite farmer? We would LOVE to hear about it! Write
to us at janet@nourishyourlife.com.
My challenge for you this month is to visit your Farmers
Market AT LEAST once this month. Check out the produce;
is it organic or conventional? Talk to the farmers. Do
they get excited about their offerings?
Write to us at
janet@nourishyourlife.com and tell us about your
experience. We would be honored to hear about it.
Quote for
the month:
"He plants to
benefit another generation."
Caccilius
Stativs
Healthy
eating in May: garlic!
Also known as
“the stinking rose”, garlic has a love/hate relationship
with many people. We love the taste, love the health
benefits, but hate what it does to our breath.
"Garlick maketh
a man wynke, drynke, and stynke." (Thomas Nashe, 16th
century poet) is often quoted by garlic connoisseurs.
If garlic had
been created in the laboratory instead of by nature, it
would probably be a high-priced prescription drug.
That's just how good it really is.
Medical studies
have shown that garlic - the aromatic seasoning people
either love or hate - can lower cholesterol, prevent
dangerous blood clots, reduce blood pressure, prevent
cancer, and protect against bacterial and fungal
infections.
Just what makes garlic so good? Known scientifically as
Allium sativum, garlic contains more than 100
biologically useful chemicals, including substances with
such strange names as alliin, alliinase, allicin, S-allylcysteine,
diallyl sulfide, allyl methyl trisulfide.In fact, garlic
has been used medicinally for at least 3,000 years, but
until relatively recently its benefits were considered
little more than folklore.
According to a
report in the Journal of the American Medical
Association (Nov. 28, 1990;264:2614), the therapeutic
roles of garlic have been described in more than 1,000
scientific studies.” (The Wonders of Garlic) Wow! A food
that can lower cholesterol, prevent blood clots, reduce
blood pressure, prevent cancer, and protect against
bacterial and fungal infections…That is worth a little
bad breath in my book!!! Garlic, by the way, also
benefits us by the copper, iron, manganese, phosphorus,
selenium and zinc contained in each little bulb.
There is an old
Welsh saying which may indeed have merit as a health
remedy: "Eat leeks in March and garlic in May, Then the
rest of the year, your doctor can play."
My challenge
for you this month is to eat a clove of garlic (in a
recipe, of course) at least twice this week. Ideas for a
recipe? Try this one:
Quinoa with
garlic and sun dried tomatoes
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
½ tablespoon olive oil
1 cup carrots, shredded
1 clove garlic, minced
8 sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil) chopped
1 green onion, thinly slice
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
Directions
Rinse quinoa
before cooking to remove the coating of a bitter
substance called saponins.
Bring water to a boil.
Stir in quinoa, cover and simmer 15 minutes.
Heat olive oil in a skillet, sauté carrots and garlic
(do not overcook garlic-it will become bitter)
Stir in remaining ingredients and heat through.
ENJOY!!!
Nutrition
facts: 4, 6 servings: 206, 137calories: 40, 26g carbs,
7.5, 5g protein, 5, 3.5g fat,
Do you know of
someone who would benefit from this information?
We welcome you to pass it on.
